But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, Acts 26:16 (ESV)
Paul had a powerful, life-changing encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus that day, and Jesus was clear as to why he chose to reveal himself so dramatically to Paul: "to appoint you as a servant and a witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you."
Many of us have become so accustomed to Paul the apostle, we may sometimes forget that he was first Saul the Pharisee, whose passionate dedication to his Jewish faith drove him to be a well-known and feared persecutor of the early church. To say this encounter was life-changing is a gross understatement. Through it, Paul realized all he had stood for in defending his God was actually persecuting his God. Black became white, dark became light, heresy became truth, and Paul "was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19) but lived the remainder of his life as a servant and a witness to the Gospel.
Chambers explains:
When we are born again we all have visions, if we are spiritual at all, of what Jesus wants us to be, and the great thing is to learn not to be disobedient to the vision, not to say that it cannot be attained. It is not sufficient to know that God has redeemed the world, and to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did effectual in me; I must have the basis of a personal relationship to Him. Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim, he was brought into a vivid, personal, overmastering relationship to Jesus Christ...There is nothing there apart from the personal relationship. Paul was devoted to a Person not to a cause.
Paul was devoted to Jesus, not "the cause" of Christianity and there is a difference. This has tremendous implications for us as believers in this day and age. It is so easy to become devoted to a church, a ministry, or a particular teacher and while we should certainly serve in our churches, listen to and learn from theologically sound teachers, and involve ourselves in those causes for which God has given us a passion, our devotion should be reserved for Christ alone. Our primary focus should always be on nurturing our relationship with Jesus, first and foremost, through time in the Word and prayer. As we become more and more Christ-like, our service to our churches and our communities is more effective.
My Prayer today:
Heavenly Father, reveal those places in my life where I am more devoted to people or causes than I am to your precious Son. Help me to grow my relationship with Jesus above all else so that I am a servant and a witness for the Gospel.
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